Black Page 36

Description of work

'Using a bottle of black nail polish, a black felt pen, and a kitchen skewer because these were good everyday materials. The wide-nibbed black felt pen was used for an undercoating and the black nail polish for a visible varnish. Into the varnish I incised with a small meat skewer the opening words of my translation of Paul Celan's Death Fugue (black/milk/of/morning) in which the English presents a double meaning and metaphor that the German doesn't allow. This permitted me to pay homage simultaneously to Sterne and Celan. The bleeding of the finished page was also intentional.'

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Purchase catalogue

The catalogue brings together all 73 pages and reveals who the artist or writers are of each page and how their page was made. Priced £40.00 and available from the Laurence Sterne Trust website.

THE BLACK PAGE

The Black Page exhibition at Shandy Hallcelebrates the 250th anniversary of Vols I & II of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne.Page 73 of Volume I is a Black Page which marks the death of Parson Yorick.73 artists/writers have each been asked to create a 'Black Page' for exhibition and sale by auction.

But which artist created which page?Each work is signed by the artist and is for sale, but the signatures of the contributors are hidden beneath the black mounting board. Their descriptions of their work may provide clues.Each artist has provided a description of the materials used and the making of each page and this is appended under the relevant picture on the blog, and available in the gallery.

Each Black Page is for sale by auction.

Bidding starts at £73, to rise in increments of £10 minimum.Bids will be recorded in the comments under the relevant Black Page on the blog and in the gallery at Shandy Hall.Bidding will only be accepted by email to shandyhall@dial.pipex.com, letter or in person to Patrick Wildgust, and will close at 11.59pm on October 31st 2009.All monies raised will contribute to the grant by English Heritage to repair the roof at Shandy Hall.

A stone Black Page (sculpted by Peter Coates) has been installed on Sterne’s grave in the churchyard of St Michael's church, Coxwold and Nutty Slack by Patrick Hughes, Quilt by Tom Phillips and Black Page- the Movie by Revolution Films can be seen in the gallery.Exhibition continues until 31 October. Open every day (except Saturdays) 11am - 4pm (see Laurence Sterne Trust link above)